FY-Eye: May 2018

Prevent Blindness Wisconsin is pleased to announce five award winners celebrating their achievements towards healthy vision for all Wisconsin residents. The Awards will be presented at a dinner following the 59th Annual Meeting of the Board at the Italian Community Center on May 17, 2018 at 5:45 pm. Tickets are available for $65 by calling Bridget at (414) 765-0505 or register online. Please make reservations by Friday, May 4.

3-year-old Julia received a vision screening from Prevent Blindness Wisconsin volunteers in February of 2018 at her preschool in the North Shore of Milwaukee. After her referral, Julia’s parents took her in for a complete eye exam, where she was diagnosed with hyperopia (also known as farsightedness). Julia is now wearing glasses and has been doing a great job at wearing them!

Her mom told Prevent Blindness Wisconsin, “We had no idea that Julia had a vision problem. No one noticed anything. We feel blessed that her problem was caught early—she hasn’t even tried to take her glasses off so they must make quite a difference in her life. We are very thankful that the screening happened. It should happen in every preschool! Again… thank you!”

Thank you to each and every volunteer vision screener who makes a difference in the lives of children like Julia!

Help children have EGGcellent vision for a lifetime!

Throughout the month of May, Prevent Blindness Wisconsin will be featured as the charity of the month at Blue's Egg! $1 from each "Egg Plate" purchased will be donated to Prevent Blindness Wisconsin and our sight saving services. The "Egg Plate" special changes daily so be sure to support Prevent Blindness Wisconsin all month long!

Get in line remotely and check current wait times by finding Blue's Egg on the NoWait app or Yelp app.

Save the Date!

We are excited to introduce Addi’s Walk a family-friendly event scheduled on Wednesday, August 1 to raise funds for certified vision screening programs. Located in downtown Milwaukee at the DoMUS Boardwalk, the walk is about 2.3 miles on the Hank Aaron Trail and each registrant will receive an Addi’s Walk t-shirt and pizza dinner.

Visit the Addi’s Walk website for more information, register a walker, start a team or make a donation. Please contact Bridget for registration questions and Julie for information about sponsorships.

A big "thank you" to members of the UW- Madison chapter of Delta Gamma, who vision screened over 40 preschool-age students in April at the UW Preschool Lab. By partnering with the Preschool Lab, which is located on the UW- Madison campus, DG members are saving sight in their own community. Thank you, women of Delta Gamma, for supporting children's healthy vision!

Thank you for all that you do to support our sight-saving mission. We appreciate the time and dedication that you put into vision screening this year. The impact that you have on the students in your care is truly remarkable. Thank you to everyone who submitted their annual statistical request form this year in time to be reflected in our Annual Program Report. Because of amazing partners like you, it was reported that over 250,000 children in Wisconsin received certified vision screenings this year!

As you begin to wind down for the school year and look ahead for next year’s screenings, please check out all of the resources available to you in the School Nurse Vision Screening Toolkit. If you visited with us at WASN, you also heard us talk about our brand new FREE downloadable Vision and Eye Health Curriculum. Packed with educational resources for students, teachers, and parents, we are excited to see how this will impact the number of students getting the follow-up care they need after a vision screening referral. To learn more about these resources, contact Valerie Grimm.

Prevent Blindness Wisconsin offers training and certification for $75 per person with a minimum of 10 people present for Children's Vision Screening certification or renewal. Contact Valerie Grimm to set up a training near you.*Please Note: Our fall training schedule fills up very quickly. Confirm your training before leaving for the summer.

This past April, the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Brown County participated in our Healthy Eyes public education talk. Healthy Eyes, a national initiative, is funded by Regeneron which educates health care professionals on the importance of adult vision health. Over 20 healthcare professionals at the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Brown County learned about the importance of adult vision health as individuals age, helping improve quality of life for the adults they serve. Thank you to the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Brown County for becoming vision health advocates and for supporting adult vision health in your county!

Last month, Community Health Manager, Valerie Grimm, “took the show on the road” to train and certify approximately 90 Lions and Lioness with trainings in Iron River, Ashland, and Lac du Flambeau. These trainings provided a 3-year certification in Children and Adult Vision Screening. Trainings also provided certification on the use of instrument-based screening tools including the SPOT Vision Screener and the Humphrey FDT machine. Thank you District 27-C2 for being so accommodating and making all of these trainings such a success. Check out our website to find a Lions training near you.

In April, Prevent Blindness Wisconsin trained and certified 28 childcare providers as Children’s Vision Screeners at the Childcare Association of Regulated Early childhood professionals (C.A.R.E.) conference in Neenah, WI. These Fox Valley area childcare providers can now run a vision screening program at their childcare center, enabling them to screen children that would not be reached otherwise. The training received overwhelmingly positive feedback, with C.A.R.E. Treasurer Stephanie Winkel commenting that “we want to buy a screening kit to share, so that we can help make sure everyone gets a vision screening!” If you are interested in having a vision screening training for your staff, please contact Shelby LaTona.

Thank you Greater Green Bay Community Foundation for supporting the Head Start Vision Health program at Green Bay Public Schools Head Start which makes healthy vision to learn possible for low-income children!

Thank you Madison Rotary Foundation for supporting the Children’s Vision Screening program for 3 to 5-year-old children in the Madison area, ensuring children are vision-ready to learn, play, and grow!

Prevent Blindness Wisconsin's t-shirt campaign will help raise funds for our sight saving services. With shirts available in children's and adult sizes, this campaign is a great way for your school, clubs, volunteer groups and friends to support Prevent Blindness Wisconsin. Visit our store on Newd Custom Printing to check out the merchandise!

Share this flyer with your school, friends, and family!

Your support allows us to carry out our vision for each Wisconsin resident to have healthy vision at every stage of life. Thank you!

About Us

Founded in 1958, Prevent Blindness Wisconsin improves the lives of children, adults, and families through early detection of eye conditions to prevent blindness and preserve sight. On-going vision screening activities and state-wide public health education lead to a lifetime of healthy vision.